Pierre-Auguste Renoir, "Sisters, On The Terrace"

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Two Sisters (On the Terrace), 1881; Art Institute of Chicago.

There's something special about an original Renoir — the sophisticated execution, the exquisite flesh tones, the quality of color, the emotion and sense of place. Sadly, the recently spotted reproduction below obscures all of these elements. The way that Two Sisters (On the Terrace) is intended to be seen and felt is expressed by notes from the Art Institute of Chicago, where the work is located:

Technically, the painting is a tour de force: Renoir juxtaposed solid, almost life-size figures against a landscape that — like a stage set — seems a realm of pure vision and fantasy. The sewing basket in the left foreground evokes a palette, holding the bright, pure pigments that the artist mixed, diluted, and altered to create the rest of the painting. Although the girls were not actually sisters, Renoir's dealer showed the work with this title, [along with others] at the seventh Impressionist exhibition in 1882.

Altered version of a painting by Auguste Renoir.